Thursday, January 21, 2010

pcworld.idg.com.auThe FBI was so cavalier -- and telecom companies so eager to help -- that a verbal request or even one written on a Post-it note was enough for operators to hand over customer phone records, according to a damning report released on Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General.

The 289-page report details findings of the DOJ’s investigation into the FBI’s policies for requesting phone records from 2003 through 2006.

It found that in many cases the FBI issued written requests for telephone information, saying that it had secured the proper legal authority to make such requests, even though it didn’t.

Also, the report found that the FBI used far more casual methods to obtain records, including verbal requests and requests written on Post-it notes.

When the FBI did use formal written requests, it did not track their use or keep copies of them, the report found.

Prior to starting ComSec LLC in 2007, Mr. LeaSure was active within the counterespionage, counterterrorism and TSCM fields for 26 years. He has attained the prestigious CCISM, Certified Counterespionage Information Security Management Certification. He also has extensive training, knowledge and experience in the identification of eavesdropping devices, espionage detection methods and the intelligence collection tactics most often employed by perpetrators of electronic espionage.

J.D. LeaSure is also the Director of the Espionage Research Institute International (ERII). As Director, he is tasked with ensuring the organization is successful in its mission to provide continuing education, facilitate professional relationship building and ensure the counterespionage & counterintelligence skill sets of its membership remains current as espionage tactics and devices evolve.